John Allen today: Focus on the Salesians (Cardinal Bertone’s order) At the moment, the Salesians have more bishops than any other order in the church — a total of 116, while their nearest competitor, the Order of Friars Minor, have […]

The Pope’s words yesterday: These words call to mind our common faith and the mystery of the salvation we have received, a gift which we must pass on to the men and women of our day. The fact that the […]

The new Secretary for the Congregation of Divine Worship: The newly appointed Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship said this week that some liturgical reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council have not been true to the council’s decrees. […]

There is nothing I shall wantA couple of weeks ago, a memorial Mass for Michael was held here in Birmingham at the Cathedral. The bishop presided and offered a very nice, even charming homily in which he first focused on the Scripture readings of the day, and then turned to Michael, whom he remembered, among other things, as on

Revolutionary Road - Is it just me?Why am I the only person I know..or even "know" in the Internet sense of "knowing" - who didn't hate it? I didn't love it, either. There was a lot wrong with it. Weak
characterization. Miscasting. Anvil-wielding mentally ill prophets.But here's the thing.Whether or not Yates' original novel in

Books for LentNo, I'm not going to ask you about your Lenten reading lists...although I might.Not today, though. This post is about giving books to others. For Lent, and a long time after that.
You know how it goes during Lent: Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving, right?Well, here's a worthy recipient for your hard-

Why Via MediaHow about....because I'm lame and hate thinking up titles to things? No?Okay...how about...St. Benedict?
Yes, yes, I know the association with Anglicanism. That wasn't invovled in my purpose in naming the joint, but if draws some Googling Episcopalians, all the better.To tell the truth, you can bl

Brave Heart?I don't know about you, but one of effects of childbirth on me was a compulsion to spill the details. All of them.The whole thing was fascinating to me, so of course I assumed everyone else should be fascinated as well in the recounting of every minute of labor, describing the intensity of discomfor